Passion

Gosh, we know what that is! As a Mom of 4, the overwhelming emotion called passion has spurred me on. As a family leader, my conviction to support our children to be as independent as possible helped me muddle through times when they were learning to make good decisions by allowing them to enjoy the consequences of “iffy” decisions as they grew up. For one of our children with some developmental challenges, the “expert” advice of what she would “never” do spurred me on to try many more ways to help her flourish. And flourish she did.

Resilience

Bouncing back? No, resilience isn’t about bouncing. It’s about putting one foot in front of the other and dragging yourself back from adversity – sometimes crippling adversity. Resilient Moms come back by doing whatever it takes to rebuild a life: for them and their families. The years that I taught in a college Business Administration program increased my admiration for Moms, many of them single Moms, who returned to school with young children. From the other side of the relationship, I was struggling to find the energy to mark assignments and prepare classes to teach them at the same time they were the students. I had 4 young children, a pay cheque and a husband.

Strong Sense of Self

My Mom and many of her generation were stay at home Moms. They were formidable Moms. They absolutely had a strong sense of self or self worth and encouraged the same in all of us. My Mom loved Carrie Underwood’s singing, sang in the Church choir and unequivocally felt she could have had a professional singing career if life’s circumstances had been different. Losing her Dad when she was 12 years old and being the eldest of 5 children living on a farm had her step into a family leadership role at a young age. Singing lessons weren’t in the cards. She was our loudest cheerleader and helped us become the confident women my sisters and I are today. Encouraging us to appreciate our unique self is one of her greatest legacies, one I hope I have passed onto my children.

Flexibility

Gosh, I’m not sure I know one Mom who isn’t flexible. Surviving the terrible 2’s is all about negotiation and flexibility! We become masters of rescheduling tasks after discovering (at the last minute) the school project, field trip or fundraising flyers tucked into the bottom corner of the backpack. Being flexible also meant that at times I had to be content with “good enough”. Investing the extra time or money into a goal was going to “cost” more in terms of a trade-off than I was willing to give. Trade-offs are an essential part of family life.

Vision

This is a big one for me. Keeping the family vision in sight can really help make the right trade-offs, keep actions aligned with what matters most and helps me “let go” of many things that just don’t matter. My family vision includes raising confident, happy, independent adults who have meaningful lives – sharing their gifts and talents while pursuing their passions. Maintaining health relationships is far more important than being “right”.

Laura Bio Headshot

Client Testimonials

Laura has business insights gained over years of experience operating her own businesses and from working with a variety of enterprises and organizations.She provided straight-forward, efficient and effective assistance that had me stop and reflect on the validity of assumptions, and then progress toward my goals. Laura prompted me to see assumptions that I might be making that could be costly and time consuming with respect to building my business.

Myles Flaig

You have been such an integral part of JPF. We have taken our small company to a place that will leave a foot print in Calgary Construction Industry. It is so apparent that your background with owning a handful of businesses and designations in accounting that we made a good choice.Through a year that everyone was glad to see go, you made 2016 a success for JPF.

Paries JohnsonJPF Commercial Floor Coverings Ltd

Laura demonstrates a mastery-level ability with facilitation. Her facilitation style is inclusive, supportive and engaging. She frequently received high praise from participants on how much they enjoyed attending one of her workshops or events. Laura was instrumental in leading and developing the department’s strategic plan. Laura spearheaded a successful branding campaign and was able to successfully raise the department’s profile at the College through targeted initiatives, newsletters, and a re-design of the website. Laura promoted and displayed superior, customer-led service.Laura brings energy and commitment to meeting the client’s needs to any project she undertakes. I am thrilled to hear she is starting her own company in e-Learning and would gladly recommend her and her work.

Karen FiegeBow Valley College

I would highly recommend Laura as an experienced consultant for any organization who is looking at maximizing results through impactful interventions.

Aida RodriguezSuncor Energy

Laura cares deeply for the people she works with and understands the importance of relationships with all stakeholders. She is a leader of change and her insatiable thirst for knowledge is exemplified through her creative solutions to problems – problems the client might not even know they have yet. I would highly recommend Laura, as she brings with her, extensive experience and leaves behind a team that is more aware of the real issues, the root causes and the path that leads to a long term solutions.